by Chris Bodenner
Tracy Clark-Flory spots a trend of articles claiming a backlash against sex:
What all three pieces have in common is that they link this alleged sexual malaise to technology. The Observer piece claims that young New Yorkers are more enamored with the smooth body of their iPhones than actual human flesh, more invested in upping their number of Twitter followers than notches on their bedposts. These caricatured young professionals get off on onanistic maintenance of their Facebook profiles, not on real-life human interaction. It strikes me that this is really just a way of expressing the depth of despair over the fact that, as I've written in the past, we feel "more connected, and yet more isolated, than ever."
Sex often stands in as a marker of personal and relationship health. As Wolitzer, who also gave a nod to the "seductions" of Facebook, Wikipedia and pornography, wrote in the Times, "[I]t's as if we still believe sex equals strength, health and life; and therefore, not-sex equals weakness, illness and death." Maybe it isn't as simple as that, but the connections are certainly there. Pointing the finger at technology — whether it's addictive social media or the abundance of online pornography — is a way to escape the uncomfortable self-examination that follows from asking whether we're intentionally avoiding something and, if so, what. It's no surprise that Jong pinpoints it: "We want to keep the chaos of sex trapped in a device we think we can control."
Has that ever not been the case, though?
(Photo: iPod vibrator sold here)
The Dish 